Once again, I would like to begin with a big thanks to all the helpful folks on this forum without which this whole experience would not be so easy and predictable.
We(wife & I) had a successful CP interview at Mumbai yesterday. Everything went off well without a hitch.
Our experience was almost similar to the one put down by "jk8"... so I would recommend folks to read through his experience. The link is :
http://boards.immigration.com/showthread.php?threadid=55623
Out here I'll just mention in short a few minor things that I observed different.
1) Prep before going to India
Followed the srifx list. Worked great for the interview!
We had our baptism certificates from our church in Mumbai in lieu of the Birth Certificate and Marriage Certificate also from the church. The Mumbai consulate accepted these.
2) Trip to India
Took a Delta flight to Mumbai via Paris. At the US check in counter, we were told that they had some problems with the system and so they could not issue us a boarding pass from Paris to Mumbai but assured us that we had a confirmed seat on that flight and we just had to check in at the Delta counter in Paris. I thought it was a snag in their system and did not bother much and proceeded to Paris.
When I landed at Paris, I discovered otherwise! Our names did not show up on the flight to Mumbai and the ticketing agents had no clue about why this had happened. We had about an hour’s gap before the next flight. Luckily the Delta agent was pretty helpful. She made a couple of calls and escorted us right up to the flight gate, in spite of not having a boarding pass. There they put us on a waiting list and we had some anxious 30 minutes before we were told that we could get two tickets on the flight although they were not together. We took the two tics and later on the flight swapped seats with a gentleman out there.
Moral : Try NOT TO leave the US without a boarding pass for ALL the flights.
3) At Lilavati. Just remember to carry your original passport and original appointment letter (and passport photos) They do NOT accept copies. Some people had to go back bcoz they did not have originals. Credit cards accepted but vaccines need to be paid for in cash. If you state that you have not had chicken pox, you would need to take a chicken pox vaccine and they are a bit pricey. So account for that as well.
4) Interview day
Had 9:30 appt. Reached at 8:15 and was asked the appt letter and passport and allowed to go in. Had to submit the appt letter at Window# 10 and wait. I think there were not many people for that day, coz at around 9:00, my name was called out at window 10 for document verification. I think the system works on a first-come first serve basis for the specified time slot. So I would advise you to get there early and submit the appt letter at window 10. If there isn't much of a crowd you will be called before your appt time.
There were quiet a few posts on this forum discussing about the attitude of the document verifiers behind the counters. Personally, I think it may be circumstantial and its possible that the people out there keep changing and different people behave differently. I personally found the people out there to be quiet courteous. If all your documents are in order, you can expect the whole process to be hassle free. Also, remember that these folks need to be multi-lingual and at times its difficult to deal with people that show up there, that are not accustomed to order and systematic procedures. (Like there was a gentleman that did not have his birth certis in order, and yet kept arguing with them) So I would sympathize with the document verifier folks and urge everyone not to provoke them with unwarranted behavior or comments. Basically, try not to act smart, guys!
The lady asked me the medical reports (not the X-rays. Also, I did not carry the x-rays), immi photos and then noticed that I had all the papers arranged in a bunch, so she asked me for the whole bunch. She flipped through each and kept copies and gave back the originals. Same for my wife as well.
No local PCC asked for.
I have visas from different countries in my passport and she asked me if I stayed in any of them over a year. I had not.
At 10:10 pm, my name was called at Window# 9 for the interview with the American consular officer. She administered the oath, cancelled the visas in our passports and asked us to pay the issuance fee and return at 3:30. I recently changed my residence in the US and I asked her if I needed to change that in the DS230 forms. She said that it was not necessary.
Paid the fees and was out by 10:30!!!
I noticed that they were allowing opaque plastic bags (shopping type bags) into the consulate. But its safer to carry a transparent bag anyways. ( I got one from Cheap Jack, Bandra). When I entered the consulate, I also had one of those new Listerene patch type mouth fresheners. The security folks may have never seen one before, so they asked me to consume one of them!
Returned at 3:00 pm and a queue had formed at the right side of the Consulate. (Two queues, one for immigrant and one for non-immigrant visas) At 3:30, the non-imiigrant visa guys were allowed in. At 4:10, the immigrant guys were called in. Got one sealed envelope each with the colorful immigrant visa document stapled on the outside.
What a relief!!!! Had a couple of Goan feni shots in the evening… typing this with a hangover now!!!
I did not get a chance to meet Moulin Rouge, although I did hear his name being announced. I hope everything went off well with everyone that day.
I’m leaving for the US on Sept 1. Will post updates for the POE.
Feel free to ask questions if any and all the best to the rest!!!
We(wife & I) had a successful CP interview at Mumbai yesterday. Everything went off well without a hitch.
Our experience was almost similar to the one put down by "jk8"... so I would recommend folks to read through his experience. The link is :
http://boards.immigration.com/showthread.php?threadid=55623
Out here I'll just mention in short a few minor things that I observed different.
1) Prep before going to India
Followed the srifx list. Worked great for the interview!
We had our baptism certificates from our church in Mumbai in lieu of the Birth Certificate and Marriage Certificate also from the church. The Mumbai consulate accepted these.
2) Trip to India
Took a Delta flight to Mumbai via Paris. At the US check in counter, we were told that they had some problems with the system and so they could not issue us a boarding pass from Paris to Mumbai but assured us that we had a confirmed seat on that flight and we just had to check in at the Delta counter in Paris. I thought it was a snag in their system and did not bother much and proceeded to Paris.
When I landed at Paris, I discovered otherwise! Our names did not show up on the flight to Mumbai and the ticketing agents had no clue about why this had happened. We had about an hour’s gap before the next flight. Luckily the Delta agent was pretty helpful. She made a couple of calls and escorted us right up to the flight gate, in spite of not having a boarding pass. There they put us on a waiting list and we had some anxious 30 minutes before we were told that we could get two tickets on the flight although they were not together. We took the two tics and later on the flight swapped seats with a gentleman out there.
Moral : Try NOT TO leave the US without a boarding pass for ALL the flights.
3) At Lilavati. Just remember to carry your original passport and original appointment letter (and passport photos) They do NOT accept copies. Some people had to go back bcoz they did not have originals. Credit cards accepted but vaccines need to be paid for in cash. If you state that you have not had chicken pox, you would need to take a chicken pox vaccine and they are a bit pricey. So account for that as well.
4) Interview day
Had 9:30 appt. Reached at 8:15 and was asked the appt letter and passport and allowed to go in. Had to submit the appt letter at Window# 10 and wait. I think there were not many people for that day, coz at around 9:00, my name was called out at window 10 for document verification. I think the system works on a first-come first serve basis for the specified time slot. So I would advise you to get there early and submit the appt letter at window 10. If there isn't much of a crowd you will be called before your appt time.
There were quiet a few posts on this forum discussing about the attitude of the document verifiers behind the counters. Personally, I think it may be circumstantial and its possible that the people out there keep changing and different people behave differently. I personally found the people out there to be quiet courteous. If all your documents are in order, you can expect the whole process to be hassle free. Also, remember that these folks need to be multi-lingual and at times its difficult to deal with people that show up there, that are not accustomed to order and systematic procedures. (Like there was a gentleman that did not have his birth certis in order, and yet kept arguing with them) So I would sympathize with the document verifier folks and urge everyone not to provoke them with unwarranted behavior or comments. Basically, try not to act smart, guys!
The lady asked me the medical reports (not the X-rays. Also, I did not carry the x-rays), immi photos and then noticed that I had all the papers arranged in a bunch, so she asked me for the whole bunch. She flipped through each and kept copies and gave back the originals. Same for my wife as well.
No local PCC asked for.
I have visas from different countries in my passport and she asked me if I stayed in any of them over a year. I had not.
At 10:10 pm, my name was called at Window# 9 for the interview with the American consular officer. She administered the oath, cancelled the visas in our passports and asked us to pay the issuance fee and return at 3:30. I recently changed my residence in the US and I asked her if I needed to change that in the DS230 forms. She said that it was not necessary.
Paid the fees and was out by 10:30!!!
I noticed that they were allowing opaque plastic bags (shopping type bags) into the consulate. But its safer to carry a transparent bag anyways. ( I got one from Cheap Jack, Bandra). When I entered the consulate, I also had one of those new Listerene patch type mouth fresheners. The security folks may have never seen one before, so they asked me to consume one of them!
Returned at 3:00 pm and a queue had formed at the right side of the Consulate. (Two queues, one for immigrant and one for non-immigrant visas) At 3:30, the non-imiigrant visa guys were allowed in. At 4:10, the immigrant guys were called in. Got one sealed envelope each with the colorful immigrant visa document stapled on the outside.
What a relief!!!! Had a couple of Goan feni shots in the evening… typing this with a hangover now!!!
I did not get a chance to meet Moulin Rouge, although I did hear his name being announced. I hope everything went off well with everyone that day.
I’m leaving for the US on Sept 1. Will post updates for the POE.
Feel free to ask questions if any and all the best to the rest!!!